nootka
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So here's a quick or not so quick description of how to catch Dungeness crabs on the West Coast (this is quite similar to other shellfisheries, I believe, like Lobsters and very similar, just smaller scale, to the crabbing like in Alaska on the Discovery channel, which my husband also does.
Martin and Ben with a full pot at the rail (they do get fuller than this, but pretty rarely. This one maybe has about 30 crab in it). The big "wheel" thing is a block. Martin runs this (it is hydraulic) and the line goes through the wheel to pull it to the top. They generally use about 20 fathoms of line though it varies. Once the pot breaks the surface, they pull it in and there is a door in the top of the pot they dump out the crab, make sure there are no girls (all the girls are released) and no "shorties" which are too small to keep.
Then they dump them down that chute which leads to the hold, flooded with fresh ocean water so they all stay alive til they are delivered at the cannery.
Here are the guys, Martin is lower left, Ben is upper (the rail position, he dumps the pots, sorts the crab and then rebaits the pot before they dump it back over unless they stack it and move it to another area (Martin assists him unless he's working another pot through the block)) left, and Mikey is holding up a big crab.
Looks like Martin is helping to rebait (that square box near him is full of squid and razor clams) the pot.
The captain of the boat is a friend of ours named Chester. He's not in any of the pics, he took them all.
The pots weigh about 90 lb. apiece and this boat is running about 750 of them, strung in a line up and down the OR coast on the Southern end near Coos Bay/Gold Beach.
here they are on the back of the boat dropping the gear over or "setting" it. You can see a couple of buoys in the background in a line, they are marking each pot. Each buoy has a brand on it that is the registered number of the boat. It is illegal to run anyone else's gear (but it happens) or steal anyone else's pots or intentionally chop the buoy off (in essence making the pot "disappear"). This is sort of like the old west w/the cattle and rustling, etc.
Lots of times unscrupulous fishermen will run the pots and then dump them over, or cut the buoy off and steal the pot for themselves. These pots cost about $125 each w/out any gear (line, baiters and buoys).
The doors on the pots have a little cotton, woven part that will wear away and release should any of the pots be left abandoned on the ocean, the crab inside will eventually get released and not have to die inside the pot. Yet other unscrupulous fishers don't use the "cottons" and bypass this regulation or their "escape rings" are smaller than necessary so the little ones can't get out. These are huge fines, but some of these people just live with the fines as a business expense and the money they make breaking the law is far more than the fines ever amount to.
:
The boat that Martin is on is called the Seasick II (Seasick Second). It was part of a fleet of four boats, the Royal Quarry (this boat is famous if you've ever read Nights of Ice or Working on the Edge by Spike Walker), the Bold Contender, which sank this past November off of Newport. (overloaded w/pots)
and the Fierce Contender, which sank about ten years ago in the Bering Sea, killing five people (just disappeared, noone knows why or how). The Royal Quarry ran aground last Summer in the river.
Anyway, that's a bit of history on the boats. Now that I've bored you all, here is a pic of the Seasick w/the holds full of crab (about 45,000 lb. on board):
The squares in the bottom are the tops of the holds where you can see the crabs piled up (they are actually in water most of the time, but likely the holds have been drained in anticipation of unloading since this was taken at the cannery). The bunch of buoys on the upper left is waiting to be added to pots. Their colors are dayglo pink and green (each buoy is a bit different in color and decoration to make them distinctive in the water). Mike is the name of the guy lying on the pile of crabs. I'm wondering if he got pinched?
My husband has not gotten pinched this year, but last year, he made up for his luck by getting pinched on the left "cheek" I laughed a long time about this one.
Now you know more about crabbing than you ever wanted to!
So if you can, buy a Dungeness crab and enjoy a real treat! Support the "family" business.
Liz M.
Martin and Ben with a full pot at the rail (they do get fuller than this, but pretty rarely. This one maybe has about 30 crab in it). The big "wheel" thing is a block. Martin runs this (it is hydraulic) and the line goes through the wheel to pull it to the top. They generally use about 20 fathoms of line though it varies. Once the pot breaks the surface, they pull it in and there is a door in the top of the pot they dump out the crab, make sure there are no girls (all the girls are released) and no "shorties" which are too small to keep.
Then they dump them down that chute which leads to the hold, flooded with fresh ocean water so they all stay alive til they are delivered at the cannery.
Here are the guys, Martin is lower left, Ben is upper (the rail position, he dumps the pots, sorts the crab and then rebaits the pot before they dump it back over unless they stack it and move it to another area (Martin assists him unless he's working another pot through the block)) left, and Mikey is holding up a big crab.
Looks like Martin is helping to rebait (that square box near him is full of squid and razor clams) the pot.
The captain of the boat is a friend of ours named Chester. He's not in any of the pics, he took them all.
The pots weigh about 90 lb. apiece and this boat is running about 750 of them, strung in a line up and down the OR coast on the Southern end near Coos Bay/Gold Beach.
here they are on the back of the boat dropping the gear over or "setting" it. You can see a couple of buoys in the background in a line, they are marking each pot. Each buoy has a brand on it that is the registered number of the boat. It is illegal to run anyone else's gear (but it happens) or steal anyone else's pots or intentionally chop the buoy off (in essence making the pot "disappear"). This is sort of like the old west w/the cattle and rustling, etc.
Lots of times unscrupulous fishermen will run the pots and then dump them over, or cut the buoy off and steal the pot for themselves. These pots cost about $125 each w/out any gear (line, baiters and buoys).
The doors on the pots have a little cotton, woven part that will wear away and release should any of the pots be left abandoned on the ocean, the crab inside will eventually get released and not have to die inside the pot. Yet other unscrupulous fishers don't use the "cottons" and bypass this regulation or their "escape rings" are smaller than necessary so the little ones can't get out. These are huge fines, but some of these people just live with the fines as a business expense and the money they make breaking the law is far more than the fines ever amount to.
The boat that Martin is on is called the Seasick II (Seasick Second). It was part of a fleet of four boats, the Royal Quarry (this boat is famous if you've ever read Nights of Ice or Working on the Edge by Spike Walker), the Bold Contender, which sank this past November off of Newport. (overloaded w/pots)
and the Fierce Contender, which sank about ten years ago in the Bering Sea, killing five people (just disappeared, noone knows why or how). The Royal Quarry ran aground last Summer in the river.
Anyway, that's a bit of history on the boats. Now that I've bored you all, here is a pic of the Seasick w/the holds full of crab (about 45,000 lb. on board):
The squares in the bottom are the tops of the holds where you can see the crabs piled up (they are actually in water most of the time, but likely the holds have been drained in anticipation of unloading since this was taken at the cannery). The bunch of buoys on the upper left is waiting to be added to pots. Their colors are dayglo pink and green (each buoy is a bit different in color and decoration to make them distinctive in the water). Mike is the name of the guy lying on the pile of crabs. I'm wondering if he got pinched?
My husband has not gotten pinched this year, but last year, he made up for his luck by getting pinched on the left "cheek" I laughed a long time about this one.
Now you know more about crabbing than you ever wanted to!
So if you can, buy a Dungeness crab and enjoy a real treat! Support the "family" business.
Liz M.
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